This week's prep day was really hard for us. It felt like we'd never get there. It was just one thing after the other and everyone was stressed out. I had a doctor's appointment which totally put a kink in our plans, and then when I got home I had forgotten to stop at the store!
I so wanted this shabbat to be special. Our last few have been a bit rough and didn't go as we had hoped. We weren't getting the full shalom of Elohim's presence! Thankfully it's not up to us to make shabbat holy, but we do need to fully enter into His rest.
In spite of all of the struggles I was determined to make sure that we fully opened ourselves up to welcome the Divine. So as my hubby ran out to grab a few things I set the table and lit the candles. I even let each of my girls light their own candles for the first time. Then we sang L'cha Dodi and the girls danced around the kitchen.
Once my husband came home it was time for kiddush and the blessings. But before he started he gave another attempt at blowing our shofar. In the past he had not been able to get any sounds out of it. It always sounded like he was just blowing air through a tube. He's practiced and practiced but still he wasn't able to get it. So much so that he wasn't even really interested in trying to blow it for real tonight. But with a little prompting he gave it another shot.
At first it just sounded like air. But then it happened. The most beautiful sound came out of it, he finally did it! We were all so excited and it just felt like the most perfect start to having a wonderful shabbat. After that my hubby proceeded to bless us all and it was exactly what we had hoped for.
Sometimes in life we just need those little blessings. Those things that happen and let us know that we are not forgotten. That Abba hears our cries, and knows our hearts. When we delight ourselves in the Most High then He is faithful to give us the desires of our heart. {Psalm 37:4}
Press on and faint not my friends. Look for the little blessings and be renewed in His strength!
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. -2 Corinthians 4:16
